u.s. became a leader again, not because of missiles and rockets and great armies and all that is central though they may be. it's because renovated for doing things that inspire the rest of the world to >> author steve forbes is trying to send booktv on c-span 2. >> up next -- >> on your screen now is the cover of a new book coming out august 2012, "seven principles of good government: liberty, people and politics." it's written by former new mexico governor, gary johnson. and he is also the libertarian party nominee for president in 2012. governor john said, when and why did you leave the republican party and become a libertarian? >> you know, i've probably been

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a libertarian my entire life. this is just kind of coming out of the closet. i don't think i am unlike most americans. i think there's a lot more americans in this country that declare themselves libertarians as opposed to voting libertarian. so the picture and trying to make right now is vote libertarian with me this one time. give me a shot at changing things. and if it does somewhere, you can always return to tyranny and i'm going to argue that so so we have right now. >> what are the seven principles of good government you read about? >> one as being reality-based. just find out what his wife, base your decision inactions i'm not. make sure everybody that knows -- that should know what you're doing, knows what you're doing, so communicate. don't hesitate to deliver bad news. there's always time to fix things. if you don't have a job you love enough to get richer job done,

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quit and get one that she do that. it elledge mistakes immediately. there's always time to fix things. i know there's a couple more in there, but very common sense and i did live -- i continue to live my life by these principles. >> are these principles you have had in years when your governor of new mexico? >> always, always. i delivered one of my state of the state addresses using the seven print knight's state of the state addresses using the seven print. look, here's how we addresses using the seven print. look, here's how we need to conduct ourselves. anyway, just very commonsensical. >> so if you would come your philosophy in the libertarian of the right role of government, the racist government. >> so libertarian philosophy if you were to just have a broad brush stroke, the notion of most of us in this country are

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socially accepting and we are fiscally responsible. that is a broad brush stroke. a broad brush stroke is wearing a pan -- if the pope in that sense i am pro-choice regarding everything. well, pro-choice regarding everything means that actually if your choices involve putting other people in harm's way or your choices and a defrauding or harming another human being, then that is when the government -- that is what the government does have a role to protect us against individuals, groups, corporations that do us harm. >> as governor, teach you shrink the size of the state government you use your veto quite a bit, but were you able to shrink the size of the government? >> when it came $2, was able to cut the rate of growth in half. that was the historical rate of

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growth. i was pointed at state government employees over an eight-year period there were 1200 fewer state employees starting with 12,000, and in the 12,800. it was a 10% reduction in state government employees, which i always pointed out unquestionably sad that hey, who are doing things more efficiently because we were doing things with fewer state employees that were doing more things. i would like to point out that the real driver of state budgets state to state his medicaid and that of course is federal entitlement. is open-ended and that is what has this in the predicament that we have are the entitlements, medicaid, medicare, social security to a lesser degree, but we have to address the entitlements. >> in what is the libertarian position on not? >> well, and promising to submit

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a balanced budget to congress in the year 2013. that is not promising a balanced budget. that's to submit a balanced budget to congress in the year 2013, believing that if we don't reduce government expenditures by $1.4 trillion, that we'll find ourselves in the midst of a monetary collapse in a monetary collapse very simply is when the dollars we have aren't worth anything. and that's going to be the consequence of us continuing to borrow and print money to the tune of 43 cents out of every dollar. >> governor gary johnson is the author of this book, "seven principles of good government: liberty, people and politics." he's also the libertarian candidate for president. what other issues you write about in this? >> well, this being kind of a background on my history. i've been a much greater were my entire life. i started a one-man handyman business in albuquerque in 1874

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and grew the business to employee of a thousand people, using the same principles, showing up on time, just doing what she say you'll do for people. it is amazing how far that will go. i've been completely outside of politics my entire life. the only two other political offices that i've run for, governor new mexico and real action as governor of mexico. i may have made a name for myself. i did make a name for myself. arguably vetoing more legislation than the other 49 governors in the country combined. i veto 750 bills. i took line-item veto to a new art form. dozens of line-item veto's. i said no to billions of dollars worth of government spending and i said no to legislation that i think would have just added time and money for us to have to

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comply with those files, but it wasn't going to make us any safer. it wasn't going to improve our lives in any way and he was going to add money we would have to spend on it and time to have to be able to comply with it. >> you also fun to do your own campaigns essentially committed new? >> my first campaign is funded out of $550,000 primary. 500-ton of that was mine and 30 of the remaining actually came with just a few days ago the primary because it appeared as though it might actually win. i would like to point out that new mexico is a state that is two to one democrat. so getting elected, vowing to be a penny pincher, spending my first time proving that i was a penny pincher beyond reproach and then getting reelected by a bigger margin the second time than the first time, i think -- i think that speaks to the fact that people really appreciate good stewardship of tax dollars.

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>> the libertarian party is often associated with changing the drug laws and you've advocated for that as well. >> changing the? >> drug laws. the >> has come since 1989 of advocated legalizing marijuana, controller cannot regulate, tax it. we had a tipping point with regard to marijuana and legalizing it. i think that colorado is going to do that. it's on the ballot in colorado this november, regulate marijuana like alcohol. i think it is going to pass. when it passes and if it doesn't pass the colorado come is going to pass the 50% of americans now say they support the motion. it is a growing number. it's a growing number because people are talking about the issue more than they ever have before, recognizing 90% of the drug problem is prohibition repeated, not use related.

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that is not to discount the problems of use and abuse, but that should be the focus. i think when we legalize marijuana were going to take giant steps forward regarding all other drugs and that is going to be starting with looking at the drug issue first as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue. >> let's get the police that on the streets enforcing real crime. the three at the coors and lets end to the prisons of the 2.3 million people that we have in them, the majority category of those being drug-related. and of course we're not going to release anybody from jail that has committed other crimes in lieu of drug crime, but those that are in jail, victimless, nonviolent drug crimes, there needs to be commutation of the sentence is a man needs to be pardons for a million americans

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that but for drug laws and have served out their sentences, but for drug laws would otherwise be taxpaying, law-abiding citizens. >> governor john said, was the intersection between republican policies and libertarian policies? >> on the right to talk about a balanced budget, a balanced budget money to balance the budget immediately. we need to cut federal spending. strong u.s. dollar, monetary policy. that's the intersection. if i can jump ahead from the intersection for and civil liberties. let's repeal the patriot act. i would've ever send the national defense authorization act allowing for you and i to be arrested and detained without being charged by the u.s. government. the spring about marriage equality, get out of afghanistan tomorrow. bring the troops home. let's end the drug wars. look, these are democrat issues come historically democrat issues that they aren't going anywhere and today. just like republicans,

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historically issues have been about dollars and cents. and neither one of the parties do well in the areas they are supposed to do well. they are horrible in the areas they don't do well and coming meeting romney is horrible on civil liberties and obama is horrible when it comes to dollars and cents. >> as a libertarian now, is it a little tougher to get media attention away from the two-party system and especially as the campaign goes on this fall? >> speaking for myself personally, there's probably been a 30% pickup in attention given, making the switch. so now, i think just the opposite, that it has picked up an unbelieving that when people come to recognize there is going to be three candidates on the ballot in all 50 states come in maybe one of those three, and that is going to go a long way towards garnering just a little

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bit of who is that person along with ron polsky pain coming to an end and by his own admission, he says is coming to an end i think that ron paul supporters would not be compromised the ergo they vote for the libertarian ticket, myself and judge jim gray. >> gary johnson, 2012 is the website.com i should say. and here is the cover of governor johnson's new book, "seven principles of good government: liberty, people and politics" out in august of 2012.